Thank You, But You Saved Me First
by Kamen Rider Chrome
Summary: Kotonoha thanks Ryuji for saving her life, but he says that he also has to thank her, for saving him from himself and what he might've become.


**THANK YOU, BUT YOU SAVED MINE FIRST**

"Ryuji-kun, I want to thank you," said Kotonoha to her boyfriend.

"Why?" he asked, confused and curious. It wasn't like he'd done anything to deserve any thanks, recently.

"I want to thank you for saving my life," she said. Ryuji frowned, recalling the night he went and tailed Kotonoha. He saw her jump and then he caught her, saving her life.

"There's no need for that," he told her. Really, there wasn't. He just didn't want her to fall to her death, head first, and have her skull smashed and brain splattered all over the ground. "You saved my life first. I was just returning the favor."

Kotonoha blinked. "Excuse me? I saved your life first?"

Ryuji sighed. He explained, "Before I met you I did a lot of bad things, things I'm not so proud of anymore. However, back then, I would've been proud of the things I did, no matter how wrong they were it was fun. Then, I really got in trouble and…" he trailed off, fists clenching. He recalled the chains and the muzzle, both consequences to his past actions. "Well, anyway, coming here was like a second chance for me to get a new life, start afresh. Of course, I was also thinking of having my usual fun too." He wouldn't give a damn about the consequences. He would have just had as much fun as possible before he got caught. "Then I met you."

"I never really cared about anyone but myself," he admitted, "Way back when. I was always looking out for Number 1, Number 1 being me that is, and thought that nobody else was more important. Then, I saw you. I sensed someone alone and isolated and…I was reminded of how I used to be." He'd been all alone in that prison within Ryuki. "Don't know why I decided to care but I did. I didn't like how people treated you either. You're far too pure for all that shit." She was too pure. She was the purest most innocent person he'd ever met.

"When I saw you jump, I just couldn't let you die," he told her. "I didn't want you to die because…because you became important to me." He rarely admitted that anyone else was more important than him. It was a lesson he had to learn, the hard way. "I was a monster, both in and out. I have the horns, fangs and claws to prove it, and I also have that inner savagery and disregard for human life that came with the territory. I could do anything and nobody could stop me…well, almost nobody." Ryuki had stopped him. "I just accepted that was the way I was and that once a monster, always a monster, and I was fine with that. Absolutely fine." He let out a sigh. He could use a smoke right now but not in front of her.

He continued, "But I was only kidding myself. Even with the others I felt alone. I wasn't like them at all. I wasn't some selfless hero out to save the world or anything. I was just looking out for my best interests, having fun along the way. That was before I found something…someone to care about." He smiled at her before wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her close so he could rest his chin upon her shoulder. "That someone was you."

"Ryuji-kun…" she murmured. She never knew that.

"Before I met you, if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have cared enough to save someone if they jumped. I'd just let it happen, ignore it, and then move on. But…when I saw you, I just couldn't let it happen. I just couldn't. That was why I stuck close to you. I wanted to know more and understand what was going on." He finished, "I finally got the answer from Warren. I had a soul, a real soul; it was just that I ignored it because I believed I was a monster devoid of a soul. Then, I met you and these feelings I was so unfamiliar with came rushing out, like water from a broken dam." He said to her, passionately, "I fell in love with you, the minute I saw you, and didn't realize it. That's why I thank you for saving me. You saved my soul. If it weren't for you I might've ended up dead without nobody to care about me. Thank you, Koto-chan. Thank you for saving me from myself."

KR Chrome: Just a heart-to-heart. I just couldn't resist and I needed to write this.


End file.
